Same-sex weddings begin in Luxembourg

Luxembourg is the only country in the world that has both a gay Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, and an openly gay Deputy Prime Minister, Etienne Schneider.

The small European country – which has a population of just 550,000 – passed equal marriage by a landslide vote of 56-4 in June, and the law came into effect yesterday with remarkably little backlash.

Luxembourg Wort reports Jean Paul Olinger and Henri Lorenzo Huber (pictured above) were the first same-sex couple to marry in the wealthy, landlocked Western European country. Wedding dates are also set in cities across the country such as Walferdange and Luxembourg City.

The bill, which also includes reforms on other aspects of family law, was first introduced at the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies in May 2012, and has taken over two years to pass to a vote in parliament.

Several changes were made along the way. Most importantly, same-sex couples were granted the right to both closed and open adoption. A previous version of the bill had foreseen that same-sex couples would only be allowed open adoption, in which birth parents retain access to information about their child.

The Luxembourg State Council, however, ruled that this was discriminatory and threatened to withhold approval should closed adoption not be made available to same-sex couples also.

– Pope Francis responded personally to a letter from a group of gay and lesbian Italian Catholics sent in June, according to the Italian daily La Repubblica. The group called – Kairos of Florence, asked for more openness and dialogue, noting that closure to discussion on issues faced by the LGBT Community...

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